


In The Mountains

by NekoAbi



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dead Animal Mention, Fantasy AU, Logan is part monster bc why not, M/M, Minor Swearing, mostly for food but only remus is chill with it, virgil accused of being a witch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25407514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAbi/pseuds/NekoAbi
Summary: Virgil Snow runs away to the mountains to live in safety with his friend. However, two adventurers hear of a beast living in said mountains and drop by.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 2
Kudos: 89





	In The Mountains

**Author's Note:**

> Another [ Squirtle Squad Writes](https://thesquirtlesquadwrites.tumblr.com/) fic!
> 
> This was based off of a piece of art which you can find [here!](https://stargazing-squid.tumblr.com/post/620384946297733121/fantasy-virgil-d)

Virgil Snow cautiously opened an eye, glancing around the bedroom. He listened intently for a moment, noting that all the other occupants’ breathing were slow, likely meaning they were in a deep sleep. His heart began to race as he slowly moved the sheets from his body.

He was fully dressed, seemingly ready to just walk out of the home at a moment’s notice. Virgil, being as stealthy as he could, moved to sit on the edge of his mattress. He reached down and began to slip on his boots. Halfway into getting on his second shoe, one of the others shifted in their sleep causing Virgil’s entire body to tense up. He stopped mid action, hands hovering just above the boot still on the floor. He didn’t continue until he was sure that no one had woken up and caught him. It was only once he had both of his feet firmly placed on the ground that Virgil dared to attempt to stand.

Once upright, Virgil took a specific pathway through the room towards the door. His steps would have seemed utterly nonsensical to an observer, but Virgil had planned this for weeks. He was avoiding as many of the loud creaking floorboards as he could, turning his head sharply to look over the others asleep in their beds to ensure he was not caught. Finally, he reached the door and slipped out into the hallway.

This didn’t mean Virgil could relax just yet. He continued his cautious trek through the hallway and down the stairs, placing his feet ever so slowly in order to be sure that he would make the least amount of noise possible. It was only once he was at the grand entrance doors that Virgil allow himself to pause and breathe. He glanced behind him into the dark, seemingly checking to see if he’d been followed. Virgil shook his head to clear the thoughts before swiftly grabbed a cloak from the hooks beside the door and carefully turned the handle. The large doors creaked a little as Virgil opened them with tiny movements, thankfully it wasn’t too loud and no one in the building seemed to notice. He was able to slip through the smallest gap, escaping into the street outside.

Virgil tugged the cloak closer around himself as he began to walk with purpose. He held his head high in order to look as though he hadn’t just snuck out of his practically prison-like home. Virgil made his way to the edge of town and a little ways into the forest before stopping. He turned to look at the town behind him, a small tug of loss pulling at his heart for a brief moment.

That feeling was quickly dismissed as Virgil’s eyes settled on the town centre. It was blooming with light from the torches and large fire at the centre. He could just about make out small figures moving around, carrying pieces of logs in order to set something up. His stomach churned and he felt as though he might be sick. With a swish of the cloak and a scowl on his face, Virgil continued his trek into the forest, his burning passion to get far away from the town renewed. He only allowed himself one more glance back before it disappeared from his sight.

Virgil walked through the night, only stopping once or twice to rest. He’d long since diverged from the naturally worn path that led through the forest, now only following his intuition and memory. The relative silence gave him a lot of time to think. He thought back to the people he’d just left in that house, what fate they would meet once the sun rose and they were surrounded by the angry people of the village. How most of them would be thrown into the town’s cold jail cells, awaiting their inevitable fate, even though none of them deserved it. The townspeople were simply far too paranoid.

A small gnawing guilt ate at his mind as the sun began to rise through the trees. Virgil could have warned them all, but that could have created suspicion. Too many of them may have tried to run for it immediately and Virgil wouldn’t have been able to get away. It was a large price to pay for his freedom, but ultimately it was Virgil’s choice and burden to bear.

The sun was finally up in the sky as the trees began to thin out and Virgil emerged from the forest, only to be greeted by the rocky cliff face before him. Deciding he was in a safe enough spot, he settled at the base of the mountain to rest for a moment. Virgil pulled out a small bag of food and curled into the cape as he ate. His senses were on high alert, as every sound had his eyes darting to its general location. Despite his stay being far from relaxing, the small meal and time spent sat down refreshed Virgil enough for him to begin his ascent.

It felt like the climb took him forever. Virgil was finally closing in on his goal just as the sky began to be tinted orange. His chest heaved as he leant against the rock, eyes fixated on the cave entrance just a small walk from where he was. “Just a little further… then I can relax.” Virgil whispered to himself, convincing his burning legs to carry him along the last few feet.

Upon breaching the cave, Virgil felt the worry that had been plaguing him since he’d opened his eyes back in the bed in town start to dissipate. Even when he heard a loud rumbling and thumping steps approaching him, Virgil simply stood with his weight against the rock walls.

**“Who dares approach my dwelling?”** came a deep voice further into the cave, its owner shrouded in darkness still.

“It’s just me. You can stop that whole voice thing…” Virgil responded, still breathing heavily from exhaustion.

**“Virgil?”** a lizard-like head poked itself out of the darkness, followed shortly by several other identical heads. All of their eyes peered down at Virgil with surprise. The first head opened its mouth to speak, **“I wasn’t expecting you today. One second.”** The heads retracted back into the darkness followed by an odd squelching sound.

Virgil slid down onto the floor, head leant back against the cool rock wall, sighing in relief as the pressure was taken off of his feet. He seemed far too unphased by the disgusting sounds coming from within the darkness of the cave. He only turned his head back towards where the creature had been once the sound turned into footsteps but made no effort to get up onto his feet. “Finally…” he muttered under his breath.

A human figure stepped out into the light, adjusting his clothes as he approached Virgil, “So, what can I do for you today, Virgil?”

The villager in question turned his gaze down to the cave floor, taking a heavy breath. “Well… uh… can I stay with you, here?”

“Why on earth would you want to stay here? Don’t be ridiculous, Virgil. We have had this discussion before, and I thought I was very clear; I do not want you to be throwing your lif-”

“I’m serious, Logan. They were going to fucking _burn_ me.”

Logan’s eyes widened in shock; his mouth left hanging open on the last word he’d attempted to say. He stared at Virgil for a couple of seconds, letting the words sink in before his eyes blazed in rage. “Why?” Logan asked, his voice eerily calm.

Virgil sighed and rolled a small pebble around to distract himself a little, “Something about me being a witch or something? I don’t know where they got that idea…” He frowned.

“Alright. Come with me.” Logan turned sharply on his heel and started to walk further into the cave. Virgil had to scramble to his feet and jog after him, so he wasn’t left behind.

It took a few months for them both to really become comfortable with their new situation; Virgil needed the time to adapt to living in a cave while Logan needed to get used to sharing said cave with another person. They did work together exceedingly well, though. Virgil managed to get Logan down the mountain every once in a while, allowing them both to go fetch supplies from another nearby village.

However, tales of a missing witch boy spread from village to village, along with rumours of a beast living in the mountains. Somehow, both ended up weaving together to create a tale of a witch and his beastly companion. The story spread far and wide, eventually reaching the ears of an adventurers’ guild.

They were asked if anyone could attempt to scale the mountain and find the beast and the witch before they attacked. Only two offered their services…

\---

The pair of adventurers stood at the base of the mountain, staring up at its rocky walls. Both were clad in expensive looking garb, though one of them looked far more tattered than the other. As the more put-together one seemed to be working out the best route for them to take in order to reach the beast’s cave, the other saw something over at the boulder to their left and went off to follow it.

“…and I think we should get up there by sundown. Let us- Remus. Where did you go? We don’t have time for you to get distracted today!” The one planning pouted, looking all around for his travelling companion.

“Over here, brother!” Remus called out, waving his arm from around the boulder separating them.

“What are you doing? Like I just said, we don’t have time for-”

The adventurer stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at Remus, who held the carcass of a dead animal in his hand.

“We were running low on food, so I caught us something!” Remus grinned, holding it further into his brother’s personal space. When the other backed away, Remus simply shrugged and threw it into his satchel, “You have no trouble seeing it once it’s cooked, Roman.” He said with an air of confidence, as though he’d won some ongoing argument.

Roman rolled his eyes, “It is far less disgusting and wet once it’s cooked. It also doesn’t fully resemble its animal-self at that point. Anyway, that’s not what we’re here for! Start climbing.” Roman practically threw himself against the rockface, reaching for the first hand and footholds he’d identified.

The brothers continued to bicker endlessly over the dead animal as they climbed, only stopping for a short rest halfway up to their goal.

“I’m simply saying, I don’t like to see the dead eyes, Remus. Is that so wrong?!” Roman sneered as he clambered up onto the next ledge. He looked down to see his brother just a few footholds behind, looking up at him with a judgemental raised eyebrow. “Just get up here already. The quicker we get this done, the quicker I can get away from your bloody animal sack.” Roman sniffed haughtily.

Remus crawled onto the ledge with little grace, “You won’t be saying that when you get hungry!” He said in a sing-song voice, teasing his brother. It gained him a glare, which made Remus grin. His attention was ripped away by something behind Roman, “Is that the cave?!” He called out, running over to the closest opening in the mountain.

“Most likely. And keep your voice down. Did you forget about the monster that’s here? The one we’re here for?” Roman hissed, smacking Remus on the back of his head.

“Hey! That hurt!” Remus shrieked, his voice echoing through the cave.

“Shut up! It’ll hear us!” Roman responded, his voice rising.

“If you didn’t hit me, I wouldn’t have said anything!”

“Lies! You would have yelled something no matter what!”

“Would not have!”

“Yes, you would!”

A deep growl and the heavy sound of footsteps had the brothers pausing their argument. They both turned their attention to the cave, finding it now to be housing a large creature with multiple identical heads, all of them staring down at the brothers with something akin to disdain. **“Who dares approach my dwelling?”** the beast rumbled.

Roman, without missing a beat, grabbed the hilt of his sword and wrenched it from its sheath. He pointed it directly towards the monster, “We are here to slay you, wretched beast! No more shall you dwell here and disturb the villagers of the fair town below!” Remus snorted in amusement, which had Roman’s focus briefly diverting to glare at him. The beast took the opportunity and went for Roman.

All of the heads dived towards the distracted adventurer, seemingly going to attack him. Roman was unable to react in time but started the motion of swinging his sword anyway. His arm reeled back and then swung forward, a loud yell accompanying the motion. Only… when he completed it, the sword was not in his grip. “What? Where did..?” He looked up and saw his weapon in the beast’s mouths – two of them, to be precise.

“Release my sword at once!” Roman demanded, trying his best to intimidate the large creature. The beast simply looked down at him, stoic and unamused.

“So, what happened to being the best beast hunter in the kingdom, Roman?” Remus jeered. His hands were resting on his hips as he sauntered forward to join his brother, one coming up to rest on Roman’s shoulder. “Guess it’s my turn!” He said with an unhinged grin, reaching for his mace and sprinting directly towards the creature. Remus raised the weapon above his head, ready to swing it down upon the beast’s body, but it was yanked from his grip as he brought his arms down. Remus stared down at his hands in surprise for a moment, before finding himself flying back towards the cave entrance after being hit in the gut by something he didn’t have the chance to see.

“Ha! Now who looks stupid?” Roman said with a prideful grin as he watched his brother awkwardly get back to his feet. He did turn his attention back to the monster before him after a second of basking in the glory of Remus getting his comeuppance. “What do you intend to do with us now, foul beast!” Roman pointed his finger accusingly.

“People actually still say that?” A new voice sounded from nearby the creature.

“Who said that?!” Roman called out, eyes darting around the darkness as he readied himself for an attack.

“I did.” A cloaked man casually stepped into the light, the hood hanging far over his face.

**“You. Get back.”** One of the unoccupied heads of the creature lowered and grabbed the back of the man’s cloak, attempting to drag him back into the safety of the darkness.

“Hey! L! Get off me! Stop!”

Roman watched, utterly baffled by the sight before him. It reminded him of how he and Remus would be corralled by their mother when they were younger, dragging them inside their home before night fell.

“Ugh, fine.” The cape was unclasped and fell away, leaving the man visible. He seemed to have a strange aura around him, though nothing that seemed to suggest that he was a threat.

**“Virgil! Get back in the cave now.”**

“You’re not my mother. I fucking helped you, okay? Look!” Virgil held up Remus’ weapon, a length of rope still wrapped around part of it, giving a slight bit of context as to how the man had managed to get it from the adventurer’s grip.

The odd cave-dwelling pair continued to bicker like children until Roman intervened, “What is going on here? Do you two live here together or something?”

Virgil snapped his head back over to the adventurers, remembering they were both there. He seemed to shy away, almost disappearing back behind the monster. The creature, looking down and seeing that both brothers were far from a threat at this point as they were unarmed and both him and Virgil had their weapons, simply sighed. **“One moment.”**

Before their eyes, the creature began to shrink. The necks retracted back into the body; most of the heads were practically absorbed into it. The body also began to shrink in size, becoming slimmer and bipedal. The skin changed from a deep green to a sickly shade before turning into something far more human-like. All of this was accompanied by a rather revolting symphony of sounds that made Roman want to plug his ears. Once it was all over, a rather handsome human man was left standing beside Virgil, Roman’s sword in hand. He seemed poised and ready, as if he knew how to handle the weapon.

“That was fantastic! Do it again!” Remus yelled, clapping his hands excitedly.

The transformed man furrowed his brow in confusion for a second before approaching the two intruders. He stopped a few paces away, sword still gripped tightly. “Shall we start over?”

“Sure! I’m Remus, this is Roman. Who are you?” Remus gestured to his brother.

“My name is Logan. As you can obviously tell, I am the ‘monster’ that lives here. Virgil sought safety after the town below branded him a witch and so he lives with me here.” Logan casually explained.

“I mean, he gives witchy vibes.” Remus wiggled his fingers playfully whilst doing his best impression of a witch’s cackle, causing Virgil to glare and grip his own stolen weapon tighter.

“Now that we are acquainted, how about we make a deal?” Logan offered.

“Ooooo, what kind of deal?”

“You two leave us alone and tell the townspeople that you managed to chase the beast of the mountain away. In return, we shall give your weapons back and I shall not be forced to take your lives.” Logan said simply.

Silence followed his suggestion. Logan and Virgil simply looked towards the brothers expectantly, whilst Remus was almost frozen with his wide grin and Roman was still in shock. Then something seemed to snap.

“You can’t just _say_ that!” Roman cried, gesturing frantically.

“Oh? And why not?” Logan asked, the picture of calm.

Roman spluttered, eyes wide and wild, “ _BECAUSE!_ It’s not _normal!_ ”

Virgil and Logan shared a look before returning their gaze to the adventuring brothers, “You do realise that one of us is a shapeshifting hydra, right?” Virgil deadpanned.

Roman opened and closed his mouth, as he really didn’t have a response to that. As he was about to almost rip his hair out in frustration at the absolutely absurd situation he was in, Remus rested a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll do just that. Except for one little detail!”

Logan’s eyes narrowed, “What is it?”

“I wanna come back here!”

That shocked the cave dwellers. “But why?” Virgil asked first, his grip on Remus’ mace weakening causing it to tilt further towards the floor.

“Because you’re cute and I wanna see you.” Remus said to Virgil with a smile, as though it were no different than discussing the time of day.

Virgil blushed harshly. He fumbled with his words for a moment before snapping his mouth shut and saying nothing. He hid further behind Logan, not giving the adventurer a negative to his request.

It took a few more moments before Logan sighed once more, “I suppose we can accommodate a visitor every now and then. But, you must be sure to not get followed.”

“Done!” Remus nodded, “Oh, can I have that back?” He pointed to his mace, still weakly held in Virgil’s grip. He ducked when it was thrown towards him by Virgil, who then turned and wandered off into the cave, still a flustered mess. “Thanks!” Remus called out before turning and heading out of the cave.

That left Roman and Logan at a standstill. They both stared at each other for a few more tense seconds before the shapeshifter approached, sword hilt forward towards Roman. “Here. I believe this is yours.”

“Oh, uh… thanks?” Roman cautiously took it from Logan’s grasp, sheathing it quickly so as not to give the impression that he wanted another fight.

“Roman! Come on! We don’t have all day! Gotta get back to town, remember?” Remus called from back at the ledge.

The adventurer glanced over his shoulder before starting to walk out of the cave, “Uh… well, I guess this is goodbye?” He sounded so unsure of himself, which only had the shapeshifter snorting in amusement.

“The amendment to our agreement can extend to you, if you so choose.” Logan offered plainly.

Roman gave Logan a sceptical look before a small smile grew on his lips, “It sounds as though you desire to see me again…”

“Perhaps.”

“Then I suppose it shall be goodbye for now then.” Roman flirtatiously winked before heading out and over to his brother, his confidence renewed.


End file.
